The Clever Way Models Are Making BANK — Without Ever Stepping Onto a Runway

Taylor Hill is the star of the latest Joe's Jeans ad campaign, but the 21-year-old model doesn't just serve as the face of the premium denim brand – she's co-designing multiple collections with the first due out this spring. Hill's partnership with Joe's is exciting indeed, but she's not the first nor will she be the last model to land such a lucrative opportunity. Victoria's Secret veterans like Candice Swanepoel and Behati Prinsloo have all taken on denim collaborations at one point in their careers, but the question begs: Why do denim brands in particular love teaming up with models?

With 7.7 million followers (and counting) on Instagram, it's easy to see how Hill's reach would be appealing to a brand, but other boxes need to be checked off. In a press release, Joe Dahan, founder of Joe's Jeans explained why Hill is a perfect match for the label. "As soon as we saw Taylor, we knew she embodied the ultimate Joe's girl — confident, feminine, and strong with a bit of rebellion."

In the case of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s longtime partnership with Paige Denim, co-founder and creative director Paige Adams-Geller says personal style has a lot to do with what makes a great collaborator. “Our brand focuses on creating everyday pieces that you can wear from morning to moonlight and we found that [a model’s] style is the perfect mix of attainable and aspirational,” she tells Allure. “The way they bring high and low fashion together speaks to their knowledge and emersion in fashion too, and that mix really lends credibility to a brand while also adding a little edge.”

Beyond finding a good fit from a fashion-forward and branding perspective, Mother — who collaborated with Miranda Kerr on a 12-piece, '60s-inspired collection earlier this year — wanted to team up with someone who could bring their passion into the mix.

"Each partnership brings in a different point of view and pushes us to design outside of normal fits and fabrication," explain Tim Kaeding, creative director and co-founder, and Lela Becker, president and co-founder of Mother. In addition to lending her creative direction for Mother, Kerr wanted to help raise funds and awareness for the Royal Hospital for Women Foundation, which she has been championing for years. "We are inspired by the idea of street style in its relationship to the personal style of models, and always include a charity aspect that speaks to what each individual is passionate about," Kaeding and Becker add.

We have a feeling this isn’t the end of the model and denim design partnerships — after all, a trendy pair of jeans is a quintessential part of any model's off-duty look, no?